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Three Things Chickens Don’t Need For Winter (and three that they do!)

When raising chickens naturally, there are three things chickens don’t need for winter. I know it’s hard to believe that chickens can and do make it through the winter months, even in very cold climates, without our interfering. How can a chicken possibly survive the cold and reach the warmer spring months healthy and happy? Because this happens over and over. Chickens all over the world weather the winter without these three things chickens don’t need for winter.

What are these three things chickens don’t need for winter? Heated coops, extra light in the coop, and warm winter clothing. Ok the third item is a bit of a joke. However, based on the popularity of several meme’s floating around social media, you would think that chickens are being mistreated if they aren’t wearing the latest sweater vest. More on that later.

What are the Things Chickens Don’t Need for Winter

Heat in the coop is a particularly touchy subject with some chicken keepers. When you live in an area that commonly experiences below zero, sometimes well below zero, temperatures for months at a time, you second guess your chicken’s ability to stay warm. And you might add a heat lamp or other heating device to the coop, because it makes you feel better. I can’t judge you on this. There have been a few times that I have also left a light on to add some heat, because I just felt better doing so.

If you absolutely must add a heat lamp to the coop, make a safer choice. This lamp from Premiere is rated safer and more heavy duty for barn use. I knew the truth was, that they would be fine. But, we somehow occasionally fall into the trap of thinking chickens are like humans, or the family dog. Please be aware of the dangers of adding a hot light bulb to a coop full of birds, straw, and shavings.

Truth is, chickens are very well equipped to keep themselves warm. The downy under feathers fluff, trapping warm air against the body. The outer feathers keep the cold air from penetrating. If the chickens are on a perch, they will cover their feet with the belly feathers. What about the comb and wattles? Won’t they be exposed and possibly have frostbite? Not if the coop is well built, has ventilation at the top and is draft free. The coop should not be air tight. In fact that would definitely lead to frost bite. The coop needs ventilation to carry the warm moist air up and out of the coop. Otherwise the moist air will lie on the surface of the combs, leading to frost bite. Frost bite looks like black blemishes on the chicken’s comb.

But it gets dark so early!

Adding lights to the coop should be done only for your convenience. If you need to visit the coop after dark to tend to upkeep, check on the flock, or any number of chicken care duties, a light makes the task so much easier. If you are leaving a light on because you want to simulate longer daylight hours and hopefully get more eggs, that is taking away the natural break a chicken needs in the winter. Will it harm the chicken? Not directly. Will you receive more eggs than the person who does not add light to the coop? Yes. Is it worth it? That question will have to be answered by you. Here’s my thinking and I am not offering judgement here. This is a management style topic. If you choose to leave a light on in the coop for higher egg production, go for it.

What Do Artificial Lights Do to the Chickens?

I like to live as closely to the natural rhythms as possible. Chickens lay less in the fall and winter for a reason. First, starting in late summer, as the days begin to shorten, your chickens lose feathers in the annual molt. The chicken yard looks like a pillow fight occurred and the chickens look like plucked accident victims. As the days grow short, if the chickens have eaten enough bugs or other protein source, the feathers will be almost fully regrown. These new feathers are ready to keep them warm during the cold weather, approaching. Adding artificial light holds the chickens back from getting a natural break.

There’s More Happening than Meets the Eye

Inside your chicken, other things are still going on. Your hens are recovering from rebuilding the feathers. Even though they may look smooth and glossy on the outside, the annual molt can take a toll on the inside. This is why egg production is still off. Left to their own time table, and with good nutrition, your hens will gradually regain the protein and calcium reserves that they need to produce eggs. Unless they are ill, egg production will naturally pick up again. You will notice this soon after the Winter solstice. The amount of daylight is a determining factor, don’t misunderstand. I prefer to let the natural light shine through the Plexiglas covered windows in the coop. The hens will notice the gradual increase in daylight. And egg production will increase again.

Clothing for Chickens?

Clothing for chickens is not to be confused with the fabric hen saddles used to protect the hens backs from a large rough rooster. It’s funny to see photos of chickens wearing the latest knitwear fashion, but in real life, wearing a sweater does more harm than good, when keeping a chicken warm. What actually happens is that the sweater will prevent the feathers from fluffing. The fluffing keeps the chicken warm by trapping the body heat near the body. I know people mean well but don’t put clothing on your chicken to keep them warm.

What are the Things Chickens Do Need for Winter?

While there are three things chickens don’t need for winter, we should remember the essentials that they do need.

Shelter, nutritious food, and fresh water are the keys to chickens thriving during the winter months. Spend some time cleaning the coop. Give the chickens a good thick layer of pine shavings and straw. You can line the nests with clean straw too. Clean out the cobwebs. Check the air flow. Is the ventilation carrying the air up to the roof vents? Tend to the structure, mending holes, cracks and other weak areas of the coop.

Check out this fun video!

Water is a necessary nutrient all year long. Making sure that your flock has a source of fresh water through out the day is hard when temperatures drop well below freezing. There are a number of products designed to keep the water above freezing. Submersible water heaters, heated bases for metal waterers and electric heated bowls will all be helpful if you have electric power in the coop. In our coops without power, we pile dirt and straw up around the water bowl sides to insulate the bowl or water tub. The water will still freeze over night but it does take longer to freeze.

Nutrition is very important during times that your flock cannot forage for greens and insects. Feed a quality layer ration to make sure that the hens are getting the nutrients they need to sustain egg development. Supplement with healthy food from the kitchen or leftovers. And don’t forget a healthy dose of meal worms or grubs to add some protein.

Have you decided to use any of the things chickens don’t need for winter?

Hens are born with the whole amount of eggs they will lay, like female humans are born with all the embryos they will release. If you get your eggs faster by leaving lights on, your hens will stop laying before someone who doesn’t do that. So it all evens out in the end sort of.

Not to be critical but eating snow is not really recommended even for humans stranded in winter. It lowers body temperature. Average body temp for chickens is 105-107. My nosey neighbor was telling me to insulate my coop. I have 2, soon to be 4 chickens. So I told her I have installed 4 106 degrees “heaters” in my coop. LOL

My question is how to I stop my chickens from scratching ALL the hemp and straw bedding out of their nest boxes. And secondly, I thinking of putting up curtains in front of those boxes. Anyone doing this?

I put simple fabric strip curtains up in front of my nest boxes. The strips are calico fabric, perhaps 2″ wide, cut with pinking shears and stapled to the wood at the top. They have worked well for years!

Hi I have four hens and I’m new to this. They are laying fine. We bought one of those condo type coops with a run. My husband and I added an extra run and I just covered the extra run with a tarp, most of it anyway. I have shavings in the run at the bottom of the coop. Shavings sort of end up in the other run somewhat. The coop is in a fenced in area of our yard so every morning I go out to set them free to forage in that area and then every night I go back to get them back in the coop area. I have hay or straw in the nesting area. There are three nest but they seem to only like one. I feed them layer feed, 1/2 cup of scratch in the morning and same at night to get them back in the coop area. I also feed them some scraps from the house, egg shells, lettuce, Apple levels, cucumbers etc. of course water is always available. I check water and food daily and clean inside the coop where they sleep. How am I doing? I’m leRning as I’m going.

Jane it sounds like you have a great system set up for your flock. There always seems to be a popular nest box! No human understands this but we all know this happens! Hope your girls have a great winter

I have a new flock that is now 2 months old. At first I had a ltitle nightlight for them, then about a month ago I read an article that also said not to put light in the coop. So I turned it off. I went out that night to check on them and they were all crammed by the coop door because they could see the light coming from the house. So I turned the light back on and they went back to their roost. Should I turn the light off and hope they get use to it?

I don’t know how cold the temperature is in your area but it sounds like the chicks are cold. They are young to be in the coop without a heat source if the temperature at night drops below 55 or so. You can make their area smaller or take the risk of using a heat lamp to keep them warm but do all you can to secure the heat lamp. The best course of action would be to move them to a warmer location until they can regulate their body temperature better.

I have found that a very low wattage red light on a timer allows the chickens some added light to do whatever they wish. The red light tends to pacify the more aggressive hens to leave the less dominant hens alone inside a coop. I have a window right in front of their perch so they can look out the window and get the morning light prior to me opening the coop door. Oddly– I have found that the red light also seems to keep night predators away.

My hens have a light in their coop 16 hrs per day all winter. I don’t hear the coop but sure their nests and coop floor is well covered with straw. I give them a wide variety of fresh fruits, veg, meat, grains, and crumble shells. The 8 hens lay 8 eggs daily.

Thanks for commenting. I don’t agree with your methods but I respect your right to choose how to raise your hens. I prefer to give mine a natural rhythm to life and the egg laying is high and consistent here too.

Thanks for the info. This is my first year with chickens and I’m reading everything to be prepared! Now my question is, I feed layer pellets and give them scratch and goodies from the kitchen, is the pellets alone enough or do they need extra added nutrition from the feed? I buy from my local feed store but noticed at tsc they have different varieties.

The pellet ration should be good as long as the brand is reputable and fresh. You can check the dates on the bag. With supplements of healthy treats from the kitchen and some meal worms you should be providing good nutrition to your flock

Thank you so much for sharing hour knowledge. My questions are, if I cant get grubs or worms how do I know they’re getting enough nutrients? And is mulch a good ground covering instead of straw and woodshavings. And are there any plants I might be adding to the mulch (I make it myself from weeds and prunings) that are not good for my flock? Thank you!!!

Hi Trish. Mulch is fine to use in the chicken run, but contains too much moisture to use in the coop. As far as making your own mulch and using it in the chicken run, I would suggest you consult your local ag extension office. They are familiar with the plants for your area and can tell you possible toxicity cautions, too. I often use wood chips and pine needle straw,especially when we have a lot of rain at one time. As far as grubs or worms, the dehydrated forms have a long shelf life and are easy to purchase on line if your local feed store doesn’t carry them. Amazon has options of plenty of these.

thank you so much for this! We just got our first hens ever this week. It’s dropping down around freezing overnight (Canadian Prairies) and we’ve got the heat lamp on. Also just today picked up 3 chicks and they do seem cold. It’s going to get so much colder!
Question: should the coop have solid walls? We have pens inside a large Quonset and the front side is just wire. We are thinking to close it in to retain heat

In your area I would think yes to the solid walls. You can insulate with stacked hay bales too. Also the weather is too cold for the chicks. They need much warmer temps until they are fully feathered out. Please be careful with the heat lamp. I think they are such a fire hazard If that is the only way you can keep the chicks warm then I guess you have to. I prefer to keep chicks in the house or garage until they are able to keep warm with their feathers.

Hi Janet. As a farmers daughter from the UK I find your advice excellent and practical. I have kept poultry most of my life and have spent the last 8 years teaching novices on allotments how to feed and keep their poultry healthy. Can you possibly e mail me, as I have a question for you. Thanks. Mags

Me and my son got 18 hens and 1 rooster. We lost one hen over the summer and we built a 4x4x8 box for them they was only a few days old and we used 2 heat lamps to keep them at the 90 plus degrees until they was fully feathered. We took that out to the pen and that’s there rooster now and we have 9 egg boxes we built. we did pvc pipe for water and feed just trying to figure out how to keep our water from freezing . Any help please. and we got the chicks at couple days old kept them in the box at least 9 weeks .

I have been recommending the heated dog water bowls for chickens once they are big enough. These are handy if you have electricity available. If not, a rubber feed bowl is a good choice. When the water freezes you can pop it out like an ice cube and refill the bowl. Frequent checks and refills are needed during cold weather.

My coop has a heat lamp. It keeps the eggs from freezing solid and brings the temperature up a bit. We often get temperatures below -30 (Celsius) and spend most of our winter below -20. I feel like it’s required in these conditions, but honestly just go off what other local chicken owners do.

What are some suggestions for when temperatures drop below zero? We live in northern Wyoming and many nights our temps will drop into the negative teens to twenties. We have used red heat lamps but what other suggestions would you give?

Straw bales lining the inside of the coop provide extra insulation. Make sure there is ventilation but no drafts especially in the area of the roost bar. There are other heat lamps that are safer than the regular metal lamps and exposed red bulbs. Premiere1 Livestock catalog has some. During the day use a heated water bowl that plugs into an outlet. At night the chickens don’t need water as long as you can get fresh water to them again first thing in the morning. Also, I believe we learn much from each other. Are there other chicken keepers in your area that you can compare notes with about how they keep their coop warm enough? Here’s another post that might help youhttps://timbercreekfarmer.com/how-cold-is-too-cold-for-backyard-chickens/

I’m curious about bedding and feed. I used a 6? layer of pine sawdust and added a 1? layer of straw on top over the course of a week (litter/compost method). Is it okay that I used the sawdust? I also added straw to the laying boxes, but all they do is poop in them. Is there a way to stop that? I give them laying feed with oyster shells and they free range. I haven?t used scratch or sunflower seeds yet. They are about 6 months old and haven?t produced any eggs yet. Did we forget to do something? Thank you for the post. Have a safe winter.

your bedding choice is fine. Often chickens will try to sleep in the nest boxes. When they sleep they poop so that is why you have poop in the nest box. Some people put a cardboard box in the nest boxes are close them off somehow until the hens are laying. This is to discourage them from sleeping in the nests Most are laying reliably by 8 months. Up to that point it can be hit or miss as they regulate their egg laying mechanism. Some breeds obviously do this much earlier but I don’t worry until later. It’s not unusual for pullets to just be coming into lay at 6 months. Hopefully you will see lots of eggs soon

Thanks for posting this and for responding to all of the comments, it’s really informative for a first year chicken keeper like myself! I know based on reading several sources that my three hens should be find through a Portland, OR winter, but my Belgian d’ Anver started sleeping in the nesting box this week and I have been wary to move her back to the roost. She’s so tiny, I’m not sure if she is trying to get warmer (she still feels warm when I pick her up). She also has a tendency to get broody, but wasn’t sure if that would still happens in the winter while she isn’t laying. Should I move her? Also, do you ever moisturize their combs during winter? They were bright red through the fall, now dull and look dry, just want to keep my ladies safe and happy! 🙂

Hello, It’s a bit hard to say what she might be needing. If she feels warm under her wings then she probably isn’t cold I have one tiny bantam trying to go broody. I keep tossing her out into the run during the day. If you think she is cold, try placing her between two fluffy hens after everyone goes to roost at night. They should be sort of close on the roost for sharing body heat. If you feel that the comb might be getting dry from frost bite, smear a thin layer of beeswax lotion on the comb. Some people use vaseline, but I prefer to use a product that doesn’t come from petroleum. Look for Waxlene as an alternative. Hope this was helpful to you. Thank you for reading the articles here!

We have a red bulb for predictors. Our neighbors up the road and us are the only one that still have chickens. We live in Colorado in the mountains in the middle of no where. Lately the temps have been up there and theme add the wind temps.. Just as long as we have lots of water and ample food of a good quality, I give them flack oyster shell,and do us heat lamp for about 3 and half to four hours.Have a ornery rooster and 36 girls. May not need 8 hrs. But they are happy and healthy. Have been raising chickens about 10 yrs. We may not agree on all how to raise chickens but we can all agree that we can bounce ideas off one another. Have gleaned some very useful information and hope you will continue your blog .

Have you ever scattered sunflower seeds after a molt or during a particularly cold snap for additional protein and fat? Someone told me this, but I had never heard of giving chickens sunflower seeds. But, I grew up in a simple rural area, and I can’t really remember my father giving them anything except a little corn. Free range was a lot easier back then – no coyotes and fewer hawks.

When you add sunflower seeds to their diet, should you add grit as well? I give my girls a small amount as a treat, but didnt realize that it had alot of protein and I always have the black oil seeds on hand for my wild feeders.
I just found this blog on pinterest….LOVE IT!! Thank you for all of the awesome information!

Thanks for the helpful info. I have an enclosed run for my tiny flock and got an idea to hang a heat lamp over my chicken’s water when I saw that is how the local zoo ensured some of their small animals had water to drink. It is secured well and the girls also seem to spend a little more time in the run on very frigid days, but stay close to the light.
Also, your article gave me peace of mind about having my chickens spend the night in the cold coop- they have been just fine despite the arctic front we are in. Thank you!

We hung one of the water buckets that has little red nipples. We have electricity in our coop so we just put a aquarium heater in the water bucket. We have power plug that has a thermometer so it only turns on once it gets down to a certain temp. Works great so water not hot but never frozen.

Hi, I'm Janet. Thanks for stopping by.

Timber Creek Farm is our family farm and we share our stories and information with you through the blog. I am the writer and animal wrangler here. In addition to writing the blog posts, I manage the online shop, seek out new products to add to our Free Range Yarn lineup, and write books and magazine articles.

My background of a degree in large animal farm management and animal science from the University of Maryland, has helped me focus my energy toward helping others learn to raise livestock, chickens, ducks, rabbits, and small farm management. My love for sustainable living gives me purpose in life.